Christina - First response to tasks 1 and 2

Task 1. Describe one of your lessons that went very well. For this lesson, explain what you were teaching, how you were teaching and how you knew it went well. In your description of your lesson consider the following:
a. Where did your ideas for this lesson come from?
b. How was this different from other lessons?
c. What do you think made the lesson successful?
d. Did you learn anything from the experience?
e. If you want to improve this lesson how would you do it?f. Have you shared your experience with anyone else?
One of the lessons I can remember from year 2008 is a lesson conducted quite early in the year. It was a Form 3 lesson. The subject of study was Tun Abdul Razak but I brought in elements from the USA history as well, specifically Martin Luther King, and another famous person, Nelson Mandela. How I planned the lesson was basically by looking at what we were supposed to cover. It was a lesson that was different because I decided not to focus too much on language content but on historical significance and using material that was available elsewhere (internet). I would say the lesson was successful because we moved away from convention whereby language was of the utmost importance. Instead, we looked at information on the persons as found in other media, ie. the internet. We also looked at something that WAS language-based, and that was Martin Luther King's famous speech that contained "I have a dream". We studied that part of the speech for its language content, how certain things are expressed in poetic language. The main thing I learned from the lesson (actually a series of lessons) is that we have to move away from just focusing on language content. There is a need to draw the students' interest in matters that we are supposed to teach and by focusing on other things such as historical significance (or scientific discovery, or impact of certain rock bands, even), we show that we respect the students' interests. When the students find that we share their interests, they have a new respect for our interests and the things we try to teach them.
To improve this lesson, I would probably be a lot more organised. Instead of just asking the students to look for information on Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, I would ask them to tell me why they would want a leader like them. I would prepare more sign post questions to lead them to where I want them to be. And yes, I have shared about the lesson with a colleague who was teaching the same topic but in a different manner.

Task 2 All teachers experience challenges. Could you describe one that was very challenging. Where did your ideas for this lesson come from?
a. Where did your ideas for this lesson come from?
b. How was this different from other lessons?
c. What do you think made the lesson challenging?
d. Did you learn anything from the experience?
e. If you want to improve this lesson how would you do it?
f. Have you shared your experience with anyone else?
One of the challenges I find in teaching is trying to NOT prepare a one-size fits all kind of lesson. Come what may, our students have varying levels of proficiency and face different problems in language learning. One of the lessons I had which was challenging to implement was one on famous persons. I asked the students to get into groups of 4 and each group is given the name of a famous person (an entertainer). They were to pretend (as a group) to be that person and prepare for an interview by journalists in a press conference. The journalists are actually members from another group. So each group was interviewed as a famous person, and also became journalists. The challenge was actually to get the students to speak up. Some students did find it difficult to ask questions (esp in a polite manner), and to answer (politely). They tended to get carried away with the role-playing. I got the idea from the students themselves as they were often sharing gossips about artistes. It was challenging because I have to discover the artistes that interested them and they knew about. And it was different because the lesson was going to be all speaking and listening and no writing. I learned later that I should have included writing as an enrichment task - ie. write a short paragraph about the interview they conducted. It was a very noisy lesson and things were getting slightly out of control and I would plan my lesson a little differently so that it would be less noisy. I did share with a colleague .... and got some feedback from her.
That's about it. It has been a long response. Do comment. Thanks.

greetings

Hi everyone,
Time is just flying! It seems as if we just had the workshop...only to realise it's been 2 weeks now! How are things going? Remember, your blog entry should be in by 8 December. Have fun!